Herding Hemingway's Cats: Understanding how our genes work
by Kat Arney
On This Page
Description
The language of genes has become common parlance. We know they make your eyes blue, your hair curly or your nose straight. The media tells us that our genes control the risk of cancer, heart disease, alcoholism or Alzheimer's. The cost of DNA sequencing has plummeted from billions of pounds to a few hundred, and gene-based advances in medicine hold huge promise.So we've all heard of genes, but how do they actually work?There are 2.2 metres of DNA inside every one of your cells, encoding show more roughly 20,000 genes. These are the 'recipes' that tell our cells how to make the building blocks of life, along with myriad control switches ensuring they're turned on and off at the right time and in the right place. But rather than a static string of genetic code, this is a dynamic, writhing biological library. Figuring out how it all works - how your genes build your body - is a major challenge for researchers around the world. And what they're discovering is that far from genes being a fixed, deterministic blueprint, things are much more random and wobbly than anyone expected.Drawing on stories ranging from six toed cats and stickleback hips to Mickey Mouse mice and zombie genes - told by researchers working at the cutting edge of genetics - Kat Arney explores the mysteries in our genomes with clarity, flair and wit, creating a companion reader to the book of life itself. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
Got halfway through. Some was over my head and had to read some of it twice. Gene folding & editing. Also the part about switching genes on & off and the timing of development. I'd like to come back to this one and also look at others in the Bloomsbury Sigma series.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
4 Works 173 Members
Awards and Honors
Notable Lists
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Bloomsbury Sigma (9)
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 120
- Popularity
- 270,706
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.82)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
